The good news: Toyota’s developing a plug-in Prius hybrid that can run off the battery alone for short trips. The bad news: we’re talking really short trips (8 miles or less). These cars are “not fit for commercialization” because the battery technology hasn’t kept up with the potential usages. Damn that bunny. [slashdot]
Tag Archives: environment
Renewable fuels ‘could rape the Earth’, claims conservationist
Contrary to the beliefs of the climate change denial lobby, “the scientists” have not closed ranks and conspired to defend one single point of view. Conservation scientist Jesse Ausubel has stirred up a hornet’s nest by asserting that renewable energy generation will take up too much space and end up destroying the very ecology its proponents intend to save, and that carbon capture and increased nuclear development are the way forward.
I guess that it’s only natural, now the majority of people concur that there is a climate change problem, that we find something new to disagree vehemently over – in the form of what to do about it.
One of the more drastic (and last-ditch) options is geo-engineering. Simulations seem to indicate that these somewhat science fictional scenarios of “hacking” the atmosphere to reduce global temperatures and sequester carbon dioxide in the process are quite plausible … as long as we can maintain the system for a thousand years.
Watering Southern Australia (With Ziploc Bags)
South Australia is short on fresh water. North Australia’s got plenty. Rather than build a pipeline or indulge in large scale watershed engineering, Dr. Ian Edmonds proposes filling giant plastic bags with northern water and letting them float south in the East Australian current. There’s your roughneck of the twenty-first century: rather than drilling for oil, he’s heaving water bags out of the ocean. [treehugger]
Sports venues as solar farms
Sometimes commercial interests can actually be beneficial to the environment. Let’s say you own a sports stadium: how do you monetize that huge piece of real estate in the hours when there’s no events being held in it? Why not imitate AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and [beware pop-ups]cover the building with solar panels that will create nice clean energy you can sell back to the grid. That way, everyone’s a winner. [Engadget]
Plug In Hybrids For Autopia
Ford Motor Company and the power company Southern California Edison are teaming up to develop plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. What’s the big deal about plug-in hybrids? It turns out that demand for power drops at night, when plug-in vehicles are most likely to be charging. Most electric grids already have enough excess capacity at night to handle a fleet of plug-ins, which means that shifting to plug-in hybrids can cause an immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, especially as utility companies shift to renewable energy sources. This is one of Lester Brown’s favorite ways of saving the world, as described in Plan B 2.0. (One of the most optimistic assessments of humanity’s potential I’ve read.) [engadget]